Mountain climbing was an important tradition in Chung Chi’s early years. In 1957, Professor John Barr of the Department of English Language and Literature founded a mountain climbing club, and the Student Union held a mountain climbing competition the following year. In 1959, Mr. Leonard Geoffrey Morgan, Deputy Director of Education, visited Chung Chi and proposed organising a competition of climbing Ma On Shan. The first competition was held in late November of the same year, with participants led by Mrs. Helen Lin, wife of the President Dr. Lin and special lecturer in Physical Education. Director of Physical Education Mr. Aaron Lee oversaw the competition, while President Dr. Lin Dao Yang gave the start command and Chaplain Dr. Andrew Tod Roy served as the finish line judge. More than 50 students and faculty members participated.

On the competition day, a group of janitors went to Shatin Market at five-thirty in the morning to buy barbecued pork buns for the contestants. The contestants and staff took Walla-walla (small motorboats) to Wu Kai Sha, then switched to a mine car to the mountainside for the race. As the weather was cold, hot water and brandy were also prepared for the contestants to keep themselves warm.

After that, the “Climbing Ma On Shan” became an annual Chung Chi sports event. The number of participants once reached four hundred, and the atmosphere was competitive and fierce. Each department would make a large banner cheering for their participants, which always created spectacular scenes.

The champion of the competition would receive a prize of HK$100 donated by Mr. Morgan, while commemorative medals (small image) were awarded to other contestants and staff who helped in the event. This event has now become a collective memory for that generation of Chung Chi-ers.